Nathaniel Mervin Haskell (September 27, 1912 – February 8, 1983) was an American attorney and Republican politician from

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. Haskell served as the 62nd

governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

for 25 hours, starting on January 6, 1953.

Biography

Haskell was born on September 27, 1912, in

Pittsfield, Maine Pittsfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,908 at the 2020 census. Pittsfield is home to the Maine Central Institute, a semi-private boarding school, and the annual Central Maine Egg Festival. History ...

. His parents died when he was two years old and his sister, Amelia, and her husband, Van Stevens, moved the family to

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. Haskell graduated from

Deering High School Deering High School (DHS) is a public high school located on Stevens Avenue in Portland, Maine, United States. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district. It is one of the three public high schools located in Portland, the other ...

. Determined to be a lawyer, he graduated from the Peabody Law School in 1934 and was admitted to the Maine

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

. For the remainder of his life he maintained his legal office in downtown Portland. In 1943, Haskell was elected to the

Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via ...

and was reelected in 1945, 1947, and 1949 when he served as

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hung ...

. Elected to the

Maine Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the st ...

in 1951, he was reelected in 1953 and in that same year elected

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

. Haskell's brief term of Governor was the result of constitutional succession in the wake of the 1952 elections. The outgoing Governor,

Frederick G. Payne Frederick George Payne (July 24, 1904 – June 15, 1978) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as a United States Senate, U.S. senator from Maine from 1953 to ...

, resigned early to begin preparing to take his new seat in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. With Maine having no

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

, the President of the Senate is next in the line of succession. At the time of Payne's resignation, Burton M. Cross became Governor by virtue of holding that office. However, Cross had also been elected Governor; his elected term was scheduled to begin on January 7, 1953. At 10:00am on January 6, 1953, Cross's term as Senate President (and therefore Governor) expired. Haskell, as the newly elected president, became Governor until the inaugural ceremony was held at 11:00am the next day.http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/110921.html He was not closely related to Robert Haskell, another Senate President who briefly became governor in between the terms of a prior one and a newly elected one. Haskell continued as President for the 1953 regular session only, resigning prior to the start of the special session held later that year to accept the appointment as

Probate Judge A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as orphans' courts o ...

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberl ...

. He died on February 8, 1983, in

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haskell, Nathaniel M. 1912 births 1983 deaths Speakers of the Maine House of Representatives Republican Party members of the Maine House of Representatives Presidents of the Maine Senate Republican Party Maine state senators Maine state court judges Republican Party governors of Maine People from Pittsfield, Maine Politicians from Portland, Maine University of Maine School of Law alumni 20th-century Maine state court judges Deering High School alumni 20th-century members of the Maine Legislature